Jura, Scotland
Encyclopedia
Jura is an island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 in the Inner Hebrides
Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which enjoy a mild oceanic climate. There are 36 inhabited islands and a further 43 uninhabited Inner Hebrides with an area greater than...

 of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, situated adjacent and to the north-east of Islay
Islay
-Prehistory:The earliest settlers on Islay were nomadic hunter-gatherers who arrived during the Mesolithic period after the retreat of the Pleistocene ice caps. In 1993 a flint arrowhead was found in a field near Bridgend dating from 10,800 BC, the earliest evidence of a human presence found so far...

. Part of the island is designated as a National Scenic Area
National Scenic Area
National Scenic Area is a designation for areas of natural beauty used by more than one nation.* National Scenic Area * National Scenic Area * National scenic areas in Taiwan* National Scenic Area...

. Until the twentieth century Jura was dominated - and most of it was eventually owned - by the Campbell
Clan Campbell
Clan Campbell is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically one of the largest, most powerful and most successful of the Highland clans, their lands were in Argyll and the chief of the clan became the Earl and later Duke of Argyll.-Origins:...

 clan of Inveraray Castle
Inveraray Castle
Inveraray Castle is an estate house near Inveraray in Argyll in western Scotland.It is the seat of the Duke of Argyll and a Category A listed building.-Ghosts:...

 on Loch Fyne
Loch Fyne
Loch Fyne is a sea loch on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It extends inland from the Sound of Bute, making it the longest of the sea lochs...

. However, during the first half of the twentieth century the Campbells gradually sold the island as a number of separate estates.

Early history

Evidence of settlements on Jura dating from the Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....

 period was first uncovered by the English archaeologist John Mercer
John Mercer (archaeologist)
John Barry Mercer was a British archaeologist, author and weaver.Born in Ibiza to British parents, he was educated in Spain and England...

 in the 1960s. There is evidence of Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 man at Poll a' Cheo in the southwest of the island. The modern name "Jura" dates from the Norse-Gael era and is from the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 Dyrøy meaning "deer island".

In 1549, Donald Monro
Donald Monro (Dean)
Donald Monro was a Scottish clergyman, who wrote an early and historically valuable description of the Hebrides and other Scottish islands and enjoyed the honorific title of “Dean of the Isles”.-Origins:...

, Dean of the Isles wrote that the island was "ane ather fyne forrest for deire, inhabit and manurit at the coist syde", with "fresche water Loches, with meikell of profit" and an abundance of salmon
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....

. At this time Jura was in the hands of Clandonald of Kintyre, Clan Macfie
Clan Macfie
Clan Macfie is a Scottish clan. Since 1981, the clan has been officially registered with the Court of the Lord Lyon, which is the heraldic authority of Scotland...

 of Colonsay
Colonsay
Colonsay is an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, located north of Islay and south of Mull and has an area of . It is the ancestral home of Clan Macfie and the Colonsay branch of Clan MacNeill. Aligned on a south-west to north-east axis, it measures in length and reaches at its widest...

, Maclean of Duart
Maclean of Duart
The Macleans of Duart or Maclean of Dowart are the main sept of the Scottish clan Clan Maclean, whose chief has his seat at Duart Castle, Isle of Mull.-History:Lachlan Lubanach Maclean was the first Maclean to occupy Duart Castle....

 and Maclean of Lochbuie.

Geography

With an area of 36,692 hectares, or 142 square miles (368 km²), and only 188 inhabitants recorded in the 2001 census, Jura is much less densely populated than neighbouring Islay
Islay
-Prehistory:The earliest settlers on Islay were nomadic hunter-gatherers who arrived during the Mesolithic period after the retreat of the Pleistocene ice caps. In 1993 a flint arrowhead was found in a field near Bridgend dating from 10,800 BC, the earliest evidence of a human presence found so far...

 and is one of the least densely populated islands of Scotland.

The main settlement is the village of Craighouse
Craighouse
Craighouse is the main settlement on the Scottish Inner Hebridean Isle of Jura. The village is situated on the sheltered east coast of Jura at the southern end of Small Isles Bay....

 on the east coast. Craighouse is home to the island's sole distillery, producing Isle of Jura
Isle of Jura Single Malt
Isle of Jura Single Malt is a Scotch whisky distilled at the Isle of Jura Distillery located on the island of Jura located off the West Coast of Scotland...

 whisky. The village is also home to the island's only hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

, shop and church.

The chief link to Jura is from the neighbouring island of Islay: a small car ferry operates across the Sound of Islay
Sound of Islay
The Sound of Islay is a narrow strait between the islands of Islay and Jura off the west coast of Scotland. It is approximately in extent from north to south and lies between Rubh' a' Mhàil on Islay and Rubh' Aird na Sgitheich on Jura to the north and Macarthur's Head and Rubha na Tràille to the...

 between Port Askaig
Port Askaig
Port Askaig is a port village on the east coast of the island of Islay, in Scotland.-Transport:Port Askaig serves as the main port of Islay, sharing passenger services to the Scottish mainland with Port Ellen...

 on Islay and Feolin Ferry
Feolin
Feolin is a slipway on the west coast of Jura. It provides the only regular access to the island, with a vehicle and passenger ferry service from Port Askaig on Islay across the Sound of Islay. The road on both islands has the designation A846....

 on Jura. In the summer there is also a passenger service between Craighouse and Tayvallich
Tayvallich
Tayvallich, pronounced "Tay-vee-al-ich", is a small village in Knapdale, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The village name has origins in gaelic: Taigh a' Bhealaich . The village is built around a sheltered harbour on Loch Sween. It has a primary school, small caravan park, pub and village store. The...

 on the mainland. From Feolin Ferry a single track road follows the southern and eastern coastline of the island. To the north of Craighouse
Craighouse
Craighouse is the main settlement on the Scottish Inner Hebridean Isle of Jura. The village is situated on the sheltered east coast of Jura at the southern end of Small Isles Bay....

 the road leads to Lagg, Tarbert, Ardlussa and beyond. A private track runs from the road end to the far north of the island.

The west coast of Jura has no permanent inhabitants, but is home to a number of raised beach
Raised beach
A raised beach, marine terrace, or perched coastline is an emergent coastal landform. Raised beaches and marine terraces are beaches or wave-cut platforms raised above the shore line by a relative fall in the sea level ....

es. Between the northern tip of Jura and the island of Scarba
Scarba
Scarba is a small island, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, just north of the much larger island of Jura. The island is owned by Richard Hill, 7th Baron Sandys and has not been permanently inhabited since the 1960s. It is now covered in heather and used for grazing animals...

 lies the Gulf of Corryvreckan
Gulf of Corryvreckan
The Gulf of Corryvreckan , also called the Strait of Corryvreckan, is a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll and Bute, off the west coast of Scotland.It is possible for tourists to visit the site by way of boats trips from local harbours.- Topography...

 where a whirlpool
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...

 makes passage dangerous at certain states of the tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

. The southern part of the island, from Loch Tarbert southwards, is one of 40 National Scenic Areas in Scotland.

Estates

Jura now comprises six estates which are all in separate ownership: Ardfin, Inver, Jura Forest, Ruantallain, Tarbert, and Ardlussa.

The Ardfin estate is situated at the southern tip of the island, between Feolin and Craighouse
Craighouse
Craighouse is the main settlement on the Scottish Inner Hebridean Isle of Jura. The village is situated on the sheltered east coast of Jura at the southern end of Small Isles Bay....

. It includes the 16-bedroom C-listed Jura House, whose famous and beautiful walled gardens benefit from a southerly aspect and the effects of the Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...

. The gardens are home to exotic specimen plants from Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...

. These were, for some years, a popular tourist attraction on the island though they have been closed since a new owner acquired the estate in 2010. The estate also includes 16 kilometres (10 mi) miles of coastline and seven islands over a total of 4692.3 hectares (11,595 acre).. In November 2010 the Ardfin Estate was bought by Greg Coffey
Greg Coffey
Greg Coffey is an Australian hedge fund manager based in London.-Early life and education:Coffey graduated in actuarial studies from Macquarie University. -Career:...

, an Australian hedge-fund manager. He instructed that the gardens should be closed to the public, and ordered the disposal of all livestock from the estate farm. The ongoing closure of the gardens has become an increasing cause for concern among the island's residents. In August 2011 Coffey visited his property for the first time since its acquisition.

Wildlife

The island has a large population of red deer
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...

 and it is commonly believed that the name Jura was derived from hjǫrtr, the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 word for deer. (In Old Norse dýr was a euphemism for hjǫrtr, as this was a sacred and tabooed word.) Much of the island is used for deer stalking
Deer stalking
Deer stalking is a British term for the stealthy pursuit of deer for sporting purposes, historically with dogs such as Scottish Deerhounds, or in modern times typically with a high powered rifle fitted with a telescopic sight to hunt them....

, and visits by stalking parties have become a significant source of employment and a contributor to the island's economy.

The deer prevent the island from tumbling back down to woodland, as was its former state; indeed, before the clearances and abundance of deer, the isle's name was thought to come from 'the great quantity of yew trees which grew in the island'.

Paps of Jura

The island is dominated by three steep-sided conical quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...

 mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

s on its western side – the Paps of Jura which rise to 785 metres (2,575 ft). There are three major peaks:
  • Beinn an Òir
    Beinn an Oir
    Beinn an Òir is the highest peak of the Paps of Jura on the island of Jura, Scotland. It is the highest peak on the island, standing at 785 metres, and is thereby a Corbett....

     (Gaelic: mountain of gold) is the highest peak, standing at 2575 feet (785 m), and is thereby a Corbett.
  • Beinn Shiantaidh
    Beinn Shiantaidh
    Beinn Shiantaidh is the second highest peak of the Paps of Jura on the island of Jura, Scotland. It stands at 757 metres above sea level, and with over 300 metres of relative height is therefore a Graham....

     (Gaelic: holy mountain) stands at 2477 feet (755 m) high.
  • Beinn a' Chaolais
    Beinn a' Chaolais
    Beinn a' Chaolais is the lowest peak of the Paps of Jura on the island of Jura, Scotland. It stands at 733 metres above sea level, and with over 300 metres of relative height is therefore a Graham....

     (Gaelic: mountain of the kyle
    Kyle
    Kyle may refer to:* KYLE, a Fox network affiliate* Kyle , a Scottish masculine given name * Kyle , a surname of Scottish origin* Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland* Kyle, Indiana, United States...

    ) is the lowest of the Paps, reaching 2408 feet (734 m).


The Paps dominate the landscape in the region and can be seen from the Mull of Kintyre
Mull of Kintyre
The Mull of Kintyre is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre Peninsula in southwest Scotland. From here, the Antrim coast is visible and an historic lighthouse, the second commissioned in Scotland, guides shipping in the intervening North Channel...

 and, on a clear day, Skye and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. The route of the annual Isle of Jura Fell
Fell
“Fell” is a word used to refer to mountains, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, and parts of northern England.- Etymology :...

 Race includes all three Paps and four other hills.

These hills were the subject of William McTaggart
William McTaggart
William McTaggart was a Scottish landscape painter who was influenced by Impressionism.-Life and work:...

's 1902 masterpiece The Paps of Jura, now displayed in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. The building houses one of Europe's great civic art collections...

.

Culture

Like all inhabited Hebridean islands, Jura has its own indigenous tradition of Gaelic song and poetry.

Towards the north end of Jura, some miles beyond the end of the metalled road, is Barnhill
Barnhill, Jura
Barnhill is a solitary farmhouse, remotely situated at grid reference in the north of the island of Jura in the Scottish Hebrides. It stands on the site of a larger settlement known in Gaelic since the fifteenth century as Knockintavil, the English name Barnhill having only been in use since the...

, a remote house where the novelist George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...

 spent much of the last three years of his life. Orwell was known to the residents of Jura by his real name, Eric Blair. It was at Barnhill that Orwell finished Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...

, during 1947–1948 while critically ill with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

. He sent the final typescript to his publishers, Secker and Warburg
Secker and Warburg
Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2004 from the merger of Secker and Warburg and the Harvill Press.Secker and Warburg was formed in 1936 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, by Fredric Warburg and Roger Senhouse...

, on 4 December 1948, who published the book on 8 June 1949.

Apart from the connection with Orwell, Jura is also known for an event which took place on 23 August 1994, when Bill Drummond
Bill Drummond
William Ernest Drummond is a Scottish artist, musician, writer and record producer. He was the co-founder of late 1980s avant-garde pop group The KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with which he burned a million pounds in 1994...

 and Jimmy Cauty
Jimmy Cauty
James Francis Cauty is a British artist and musician born in Liverpool, England, in 1956...

, known then as the music group The KLF
The KLF
The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....

, filmed themselves burning £1 million in banknotes in the Ardfin boathouse on the south coast of the island.

Gaelic on Jura

Gaelic has suffered a major decline over the last 200 years. The 1881 census reported that 86.6% (out of 946 inhabitants) spoke Gaelic. In 1961, for the first time less than half (46.9%) spoke the language and by 2001, this figure had dropped to 10.6%.

In fiction

Jura is featured in the plot of the 2003 novel A Question of Blood
A Question of Blood
A Question of Blood is a 2003 crime novel by Ian Rankin. It is the fourteenth of the Inspector Rebus novels.-Plot summary:At a private school two teenagers are killed by an ex-Army loner who then turns the gun on himself. As Detective Inspector John Rebus puts it, 'There's no mystery...except the...

 by Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...

, the 2007 novel The Careful Use of Compliments
The Careful Use of Compliments
The Careful Use of Compliments is the fourth book in The Sunday Philosophy Club Series by Alexander McCall Smith.-Plot:After her son's birth, Isabel feels that her life has hit a happy patch....

by the Scottish writer Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees...

 and is a setting for some of the narrative and action in Anne Michaels
Anne Michaels
-Background:Anne Michaels was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1958. Michaels attended Vaughan Road Academy and then later the University of Toronto, where she is an adjunct faculty in the Department of English. Her first book, The Weight of Oranges , a volume of poetry, was awarded the Commonwealth...

' 2008 novel The Winter Vault.

In music

Jura is mentioned in: "Crossing to Jura", a song by R. Kennedy and D. MacDonald, recorded in 1997 by JCB with Jerry Holland
Jerry Holland
Jerry Holland was a fiddler who lived on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada.He was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, United States to Canadian parents - his father was from New Brunswick and his mother was from Quebec. During his childhood, Jerry was exposed to the music of the large Cape...

 on the album "A Trip to Cape Breton"; "The Bens of Jura", a song by Capercaillie
Capercaillie (band)
Capercaillie is a Scottish folk band, founded in the 1980s by Donald Shaw and fronted by Karen Matheson. They have seen four of their albums placed in the UK Albums Chart, and continue to perform and record to the present day.-History:...

; and "Isle of Jura", a song by Skyclad
Skyclad (band)
Skyclad are a British heavy metal band with heavy folk influences in their music. They are considered one of the pioneers of folk metal. The etymology behind the term "skyclad" comes from a pagan/wiccan term for ritual nudity, in which rituals are performed with the participants metaphorically clad...

.

The 2010 album 'Poets and Lighthouses' by Tuvan singer Albert Kuvezin
Albert Kuvezin
Albert Kuvezin is a Tuvan guitarist and throat singer.Kuvezin was one of the founding members of the Tuvan folk ensemble Huun-Huur-Tu, and is the leader of the Tuvan folk/rock/electro/post punk band Yat-Kha...

 of the band Yat Kha was recorded and produced by the British musician Giles Perring on Jura, with some of the performances being recorded in the forest at Lagg. The album reached Number 1 in the European World Music Charts in Jan 2011.

External links

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